Expansion of γδ T cells in an infant with severe combined immunodeficiency syndrome after disseminated BCG infection and bone marrow transplantation

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γδ T cells typically comprise less than 5% of human blood lymphocytes. In contrast to conventional αβ T cells that recognize peptides presented by HLA, cells of the major human blood γδ T-cell subset recognize nonpeptidic phosphoantigens contained in some bacterial extracts.1 However, the physiologic function of γδ T cells remains unclear. We report the case of an infant with severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) syndrome and BCG septicemia who showed a striking in vivo expansion of γδ T cells after HLA-compatible bone marrow transplantation (BMT).